Champions crowned in the 10th JK Tyre-NRM karting Championship

Vishnu Prasaad in Senior Max, Krishanraj Mahadik in Junior Max and Pradyuman Danigond in Micro Max claim the top honours in this year’s championship

Noida, 20thOctober: The 10th JK Tyre-FMSCI National Rotax Max Karting Championship came to exciting finish with the country’s top karting drivers crowned as champions. Right through the day, fast paced action and edge of the seat racing kept the thousands who came down to the Wonder Speedway entertained. The event also marked the formal inauguration of north India’s only two-stroke professional karting track by Dr. Raghupati Singhania, Chairman & Managing Director, JK Tyre & Industries Ltd. and Mr. Monny Vijeshwar, MD, International Recreation Parks Ltd.

The Senior Max races brought the packed galleries to their feet. Country’s best drivers behind the wheels of 28bhp Rotax Max engined karts put up an exhilarating display of speed and kart control on the notoriously difficult track. Fast rising racing talent, Chittesh Mandody, won both the pre-finals and finals ahead of much fancied drivers after qualifying on pole.

Ameya Bafna of Rayo Racing, who was lying in second place in the championship points, claimed the second spot both in the pre-finals, while championship leader survived a few skipped heartbeats to finish in third place in the finals after a fourth place finish in the pre-finals. In the pre-finals, Delhi lad, Karminder Pal of Rayo Racing finished in third place.

Prasad, who had an indifferent outing in the final round, still managed to claim the championship with a total of 424 points ahead of Bafna, who closed the year with 412 points. Nayan Chatterjee, who was disqualified after qualifying due to technical infringement, had to start from the back of the pack in pre-finals, but still managed to finish in sixth place and in the finals he finished in fourth, which meant he collected 81 points that ensured he finished in third place in this year’s 10th JK Tyre-FMSCI National Rotax Max Karting Championship.

In the Junior Max pre-finals it was racing on the edge up and down the grid. But Kishanraj Mahadik of Mohite’s Racing, who led the points table (22 points lead) going into the final round, was on the top of his driving both in the pre-finals and finals on a difficult to master track. The Kohlapur lad led both the races from start to finish ahead of Kush Maini of Dark Don Racing. In the finals, Maini pushed him all the way, but Mahadik held on to his nerves to claim clean wins. Behind the top two, there was a fierce battle between Akash Gowda and Tejas Ram. For the first six laps, Gowda trailed Ram, but on the seventh lap, Gowda outbraked Ram to move into third. Ram piled on maximum pressure on Gowda, but the Meco Racing driver managed to soak up all that as he took a hard earned third place.

Mahadik’s wins in both the pre-finals and finals meant he claimed this year’s championship by a fair margin of 25 points, while Gowda finished second on the final points table with 407 points and Tejas Ram finished in third place with a total of 393 points.

In the Micro Max, the competition was equally fierce with the championship on the line, with Meco Racing drivers making a clean sweep of the podium much to the disappointment of championship leader Pradyumna Danigond, who paid a heavy price from making a mistake on the opening lap when he ran into the tyre barriers at turn three. However, Yash Aradhya, who was placed second going into the final round, had no such problems. The Meco Racing driver won both the pre-finals and finals. In the finals, he led from the start to the finish. Shaishnu Bagmane, also representing Meco Racing, stepped up his game when it mattered the most by finishing in second place ahead of Shahan Ali Mohsin of Meco Racing.

Danigond despite failing to finish among the top three, still claimed the championship in the Micro Max on account of points accumulated over the course of the year. He closed this year’s championship with a total of 426 points, while the winner of the pre-finals and finals of closing round of the championship, Yash Aradhya, finished in second overall with a total of 413 points and Shishnu Bagamane finished the year in third place with 396 points.

The highlight of the evening was a demo race by JK Tyre protégées, Armaan Ebrahim and Aditya Patel. They showed to all those present what the senior Max karts are capable of much to delight of the crowds. If that was not enough, they were further entertained by a stunt driving show by former multiple National Rally Champion, Hari Singh and former multiple two-wheeler rally champion, Rohitaaz Kumar.